Minors

Two Washington County businesses were fined for serving alcohol to an underage police agent last month. The fines were imposed by the Washington County Board of License Commissioners, known as the liquor board, during hearings on Wednesday. The Washington County Sheriff's Office said the compliance checks were conducted on Oct. 24. The following businesses were fined: Crazy Horse Restaurant, 116 Railway Lane in Halfway, $1,000 (second offense). Pete's Tavern, 144 W. Main St. in Sharpsburg, $1,500 (third offense)

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Keith Flood said it might hurt business if undercover police officers hang around outside his Hut Tavern looking for minors trying to buy beer. But, said Flood, whose family has owned the little white tavern at 11237 Buchanan Trail East since 1947, Cops in Shops may be a good idea. The program, a nationwide effort to stop minors from buying liquor, started in Delaware in 1991 and spread to 40 states. It is now coming to Pennsylvania. Flood checks anyone who doesn't look older than 21, the legal drinking age. "I ask for their ID. Most say they left it in their car. They go out and I never see them again," he said.

The Board of License Commissioners for Washington County held hearings Wednesday to discuss three cases that involved liquor stores selling alcohol to minors. Cellar Wine & Spirits at 431 Dual Highway, West End Pub & Restaurant at 5 Nottingham Road and Longmeadow Wines & Liquors at 1509 Potomac Ave. were charged by Hagerstown police with one count each of selling alcohol to underage agents between May 17 and 26. The board agreed to make a decision in each case within 30 days.

-- See also : FDA: 70 county merchants sold tobacco products to minors The following 70 businesses illegally sold tobacco products to minors in 1999, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Washington County Boonsboro Produce Market, Old National Pike Coachs Liquors, 7724 Old National Pike, Boonsboro Sunrise Handi Mart, 14036 National Pike, Clear Spring Valley Market, 13722 National Pike,...

WASHINGTON COUNTY - Four businesses accused of selling alcohol to minors went before the Board of License Commissioners Wednesday morning. The commissioners voted to review testimony and render decisions in each of the cases within 30 days. Businesses usually are fined for selling alcohol to minors, although certain factors, such as whether it was a first offense, are considered, board chairman Robert Everhart said. Washington County Sheriff's deputies employed an 18-year-old girl to conduct alcohol sales enforcement checks May 25. The girl purchased alcohol from each of the businesses while deputies monitored the transactions, Sgt. Chris Howard testified before the commissioners.

julieg@herald-mail.com Work rules for minors vary from state to state so parents and students should check with their state's labor department for specifics. A worker's permit is required for some age groups and there are restrictions on what kinds of jobs minors can hold. There also are restrictions concerning how many hours they can work when school is in session and during summer break. In Maryland, minors ages 14 to 17 cannot work without a work permit, according to the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.

-- See also : Businesses who sold tobacco to minors Hagerstown merchants illegally sold tobacco to minors 67 percent of the time in compliance checks last year, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In 106 random checks, city businesses sold cigarettes or chewing tobacco to minors 76 times. The vendors include bars, liquor stores, convenience stores, gas stations, grocery stores and restaurants. FDA records show 70 businesses in seven of the county's nine incorporated towns violated the law that prohibits the sale of tobacco to people under the age of 18. The violations include six in both Hancock and Williamsport, three in Boonsboro, two in Clear Spring and one in Sharpsburg.

The owner of a Boonsboro skateboard shop was cited after an incident early Friday morning in which several teens allegedly killed pigeons and threw the carcasses at passing vehicles, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Department. Mark Allen Webb, 37, of 1707 Mount Aetna Road, was cited with furnishing alcohol to minors, according to police. He could face up to a $500 fine for the civil offense. Three deputies and a Maryland State Police trooper went to The Rad House at 1 N. Main St. in Boonsboro at 12:21 a.m. Friday on complaints of a disturbance.

GREENCASTLE, PA. ? The Greencastle-Antrim School Board voted Wednesday to expel two male high school students after they came to school under the influence of drugs Nov. 21. Two boys, one a 17-year-old junior and the other a 16-year-old sophomore, came to school after overdosing on the cold medicine Coricidin, which contains ephedra, according to Principal Ed Rife. The 17-year-old took 20 pills and the 16-year-old took 12 pills and smoked marijuana, Rife said. The 17-year-old has been permanently expelled from the school district, which means he can never come back, Rife said.

A Chambersburg man who coached a Pennsylvania volleyball team has been charged with sexually assaulting an underage male player on his team. Shawn Timothy Ranck, 32, of Cambridge Lane in Chambersburg is charged with indecent assault, corruption of a minor and criminal attempt involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, according to Pennsylvania State Police. Ranck was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Glenn Manns on Wednesday, where his bail was set at $250,000. He was unable to post bail and was placed in the Franklin County Jail.

A Williamsport man accused of sexually molesting a girl over a period of more than a year was being held on $400,000 bond after he waived a bail-review hearing Monday in Washington County District Court. Jason Howard Bartles, 34, of Hastings Drive was charged with 29 counts of sex abuse of a minor and 30 counts of third-degree sex offenses, according to court records. Bartles is also charged with one count of child pornography for making a visual representation of the victim engaged in sexual conduct, the court records said.

Hagerstown police are looking for a motorist who crashed a vehicle on Jonathan Street while fleeing police early Thursday morning, according to a news release. A female passenger was injured in the rollover crash. The unidentified woman was taken to Meritus Medical Center near Hagerstown for minor injuries, police said. The incident began just before 1 a.m., when police attempted to stop a Ford Escape in the 600 block of Forest Drive. The driver, whom police believe is a black male, failed to stop and increased the vehicle's speed as it approached the intersection of Charles and Jonathan streets, the release said.

As stadium site selection and financing remain question marks for the city to retain the Hagerstown Suns, a new privately-driven proposal to bring professional baseball to Fredericksburg, Va., is in the works that has “enormous potential,” according to Suns majority owner Bruce Quinn. The Suns have partnered with Diamond Nation, a New Jersey-based company, that plans to privately finance and build a “destination” complex that will include a 5,000-seat minor league baseball stadium, as well as amateur baseball and softball facilities on roughly 45 acres in that city's Celebrate Virginia South development, according to Quinn, a letter to Fredericksburg businesses and media reports.

A Falling Waters, W.Va., man wanted on allegations of soliciting a minor for sex in October 2012 was captured Thursday by the Mountain State Fugitive Task Force, the U.S. Marshals Service announced. Peter Stankiewicz, 29, was captured in Martinsburg through a joint effort by the Marshals Service, and Maryland and West Virginia state police, according to a news release. Authorities believed that the defendant fled to Salisbury, Md., shortly after the alleged criminal act occurred, according to the news release.

The Fredericksburg (Va.) City Council has received “an unsolicited offer from a baseball team,” city Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw confirmed Thursday in an email to The Herald-Mail, but said she could not discuss the matter further due to confidentiality agreements. Greenlaw's email was in response to an inquiry regarding a story in Thursday's Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, which said the council met in closed session Tuesday and directed the city staff to negotiate terms of a deal to bring a minor league baseball team to town and build a multiuse stadium.

A Hagerstown woman was sentenced this week in Washington County Circuit Court to six years in prison - three for distribution of cocaine and three more for neglect of a minor, according to court records. Kelly Lynn Cruz, 38, formerly of 139 High St., entered the pleas in separate cases Tuesday before Washington County Circuit Judge Donald E. Beachley, court records said. In exchange for the plea, other drug-related charges in the two cases were dismissed, court records said. On Oct. 9, 2012, and again on Nov. 27, the Washington County Narcotics Task Force used a confidential informant to make $200 purchases of crack cocaine from Cruz at her home, according to the application for statement of charges.

A Boonsboro woman is facing child abuse charges after her 8-month-old daughter suffered fractures to both arms and legs, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Office. Stacey Renee Reese, 25, of 7821 Sharpsburg Pike, has been charged with first-degree child abuse resulting in serious physical injury, second-degree child abuse, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, neglect of a minor and reckless endangerment, according to a news release from sheriff's department spokeswoman Carly Hose.

The case against a former West Virginia State Police trooper who had been accused of soliciting two teenage girls for sexual relations and nude photos in 2011 has been resolved, Berkeley County Prosecuting Attorney Pamela Games-Neely's office confirmed Tuesday. John Anthony Donohue, 26, of Plattsburgh, N.Y., pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of providing false information to police, according to Berkeley County Magistrate Court documents. Donohue, who was fined $100 and ordered to pay $160.80 in court costs, paid the penalty last month by money order, according to court records.

Rescue workers responded Saturday evening to a minor hang glider accident off High Rock Road in the Pen Mar area, a Washington County Emergency Services supervisor said. The supervisor said no one was injured when the pilot tried to take off and got stuck in a clump of trees. The accident was reported at 6:58 p.m.